SPECTRE: Sam Smith awaits Bond fans’ verdict

Sam Smith who has been confirmed as the voice of the new Bond theme song

Published:12:43Friday 25 September 2015

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Singer Sam Smith has admitted he is nervous about how Bond fans will react to his hotly-anticipated theme tune for the new film Spectre as the track was played for the first time.

Speaking to the Capital FM Breakfast Show about Writing’s On The Wall, he said: “I’m excited for people to hear it and I hope it just does the film and the legacy justice.”

He said he would love to win an Oscar for the song, but said: “It’s not even something I’m thinking about.”

Smith, 23, confirmed earlier this month that he was taking up the gauntlet from Adele after months of speculation and denials.

Writing’s on the Wall, co-written with Grammy winner Jimmy Napes, is the first Bond theme performed by a British male solo artist since 1965, when Tom Jones sang Thunderball.

The responsibility for producing the latest Bond theme has been weighing heavily on Smith, who tweeted on Thursday: “1 more day till Writing’s On The Wall #007 xx very scared, very nervous, very excited.”

Speaking to The Sun, Smith said: “With Bond songs you get to be as dramatic as you want. I got to get away with unbelievable string and brass sections - I got to be a drama queen.”

The track is bookies’ favourite to reach number one and would be the first 007 theme to do this.

Even Adele’s Skyfall fell shy of the top spot, although it did earn the Bond franchise its first Oscar in 47 years.

Smith told the Sun: “With this song I don’t care about it charting and things like that. I just care about doing the legacy proud.”

He said the song was a “huge collaboration” between himself and Bond director Sam Mendes, who tweaked the lyrics to make sure Smith did not make the spy sound too vulnerable.

“Sam had a say in some of the lyrics I was writing and made sure Bond didn’t sound weak, that he still sounded powerful,” he said.

Spectre is released in the UK on October 26.

Ajay Chowdhury, from the James Bond International Fan Club, said the song has “automatically achieved classic Bond song status”.

“It’s a perfect combination of Sam meets Sam,” he said. “Taking its cue from a moment in the film where Bond sees his name spray painted on the Memorial Wall of the derelict MI6 HQ. It’s big and dramatic and showcases the full range of Sam Smith’s extraordinary voice.”

“There are three types of Bond song: the big, bombastic showstopper exemplified by Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger, the dark, melancholic, regretful ballad of which Nancy Sinatra’s You Only Live Twice is an example and finally, the heroic, rock anthem like Paul McCartney’s Live And Let Die. Sam Smith’s song belongs to the second of these categories. Writing’s On The Wall will undoubtedly go on to endure as an evergreen: another quality of the best Bond songs.”

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